Life for Mr. Robot's Elliot Will Only Get Worse Next Season (And Other Data We Gleaned From NYCC)

When Season 2 of the hit show Mr. Robot returns next year, life will get even tougher for Rami Malek’s Elliott. But to what extent is unknown, as executive producer Sam Esmail remained tight-lipped during the Mr. Robot panel at New York Comic Con. And according to his actors, he’s the same with them, but his massive, boisterous and adoring audience didn’t seem to mind. In fact, the panel session seemed more like a college course in all things Mr Robot, with the long, long lines of questioners scarily well-versed in Robot arcana.

Other tidbits that Esmail revealed about next season: Christian Slater will definitely be back as Elliot’s father, aka. the titular character, aka. the voice in Elliot’s head. Also, Elliot’s childhood friend Angela (Portia Doubleday) will continue her arc from naïve innocent to corrupted Evil Corp employee and Prada shoe convert. In fact, Angela’s job in the belly of the beast could affect her relationships with her old friends Elliot and Darlene. and fans will even learn more about some of the characters’ backstories, plus the origins of F Society.

Though the show is ostensibly about hacking, Malek said he was "pleasantly surprised" that the theme is really about human beings and their struggles. Even though Elliot is alone in life, he really wants to connect and the actor’s favorite thing is "playing how lonely [Elliot] is.” Still, Malek also pointed out,“for a being an elusive, lonely, nervous nerd, four very attractive women have been in his life, not to mention a cool ghost.”

But who in the cast knew that Mr. Robot was a ghost? Only Malek, Slater, Doubleday and Carly Chaikin (Darlene) knew, before they started filming, that Slater’s character was a figment of Elliot’s tortured mind; the other cast members were flabbergasted when they read it in the script. Malek himself admitted that the show’s focus on the ills of society “affected me as a human being.”

And for those wondering about Martin Wallstrom’s character (the compellingly creepy Swede, Tyrell Wellick), the actor was inspired by Patrick Bateman from American Psycho to play Wellick. Wallstrom also believes that there’s some kind psychosexual pull his character feels toward Elliot, and that "Tyrell is desperate for Elliot’s approval."